Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

In general All Things Bright and Beautiful is not at the same level of brilliance as Ocean Eyes. See my review for The Midsummer Station with title "Where Are Thou Ocean Eyes". But I want this remark to be in the correct context. Ocean Eyes reveals Adam to be something of a musical genius. He is a unique originator of complex and beautiful sounds. Ocean Eyes sets a high standard and his later albums don't quite get to that level. Perhaps he needs to simply release an album every two years and filter down to just the best songs in that period, rather than releasing once a year. That's what artists like Taylor Swift do, who supposedly writes as many as 40 songs for each album and then simply edits out the worst to leave only the A-grade songs.

This aside, I want to call out the song Alligator Sky. Both the rap and no rap versions are on the MP3 album, and both are fantastic while being quite different songs. The Rap version is a complete shock. Would anyone guess that Adam Young could put together a credible rap song? But oh My God he does and it is so surprisingly good. Adam manages to combine an orchestral beat with an electronica melody and his own typical whimsical verse. He then hands off the rap sections to a credible rapper. In what was probably a smart marketing decision, the rapper was allowed to completely modify his verses. Like most rap, the verses are a bit silly, but I understand from a marketing point of view this gives the song street credibility.

So my question for Adam's management is why wasn't this song marketed to black audiences? Why wasn't this a top 10 song in Adam's traditional market, and why wasn't this a top 100 rap song in the traditional black rap market segment? It clearly had crossover potential and there is something just wrong here that this song was only in the top 125 songs. I don't think the video helped this song any. It was a bit bizarre, and you aren't going to win any fans in the rap world by dressing a street rapper in a spacesuit and having him walk around an empty city. :)

The non-rap version of Alligator Sky includes Adam's original lyrics in place of the rapper segments, which creates quite a different song. It's also a great song, although it is clearly focused on Adam's primary market.

The Alligator Sky rap success is so amazing that I seriously wonder if Adam shouldn't put out a rap-only album with collaborations from different rappers. There is really something special waiting to happen here with the right crossover marketing.

I have just recently discovered Owl City, and I am already a huge fan. When I was looking for a CD of his to buy, I listened to Ocean Eyes and several other songs, but finally settled on All Things Bright and Beautiful. I'm so glad I did! In my opinion, it's his best so far. Unlike most modern Christian artists, Owl City focuses on the beauty and excitement in God's Creation. There's none of the down-beat, sob-story songs that I am, unfortunately, coming across in Christian media more and more often.

The music is extremely good - fresh, colorful, and lively. The lyrics are very poetic, and often contain word plays; they're fun to try and find. And of course, Adam's voice is really great: very soft and calming in some songs (Hospital Flowers, for instance), and strong in others (Galaxies). While Ocean Eyes contained a lot of love songs, All Things Bright and Beautiful has only 3 (Deer in the Headlights, Honey and the Bee, and the Yacht Club). I really like Yacht Club, but sometimes skip the other two (there's nothing wrong with them; I just don't happen to like them personally). I LOVE how Adam's faith in Christ comes out in this album; he expresses it in a very imaginative, fun way. I adore the song "Hospital Flowers" for that reason. From what I can tell, it is his story of personal salvation. "Galaxies" has really good lyrics, too, "Oh, telescope, keep an eye on my only hope/lest I blink and get swept off the narrow road/Hercules, you've got nothin' to say to me/'cause you're not the Blinding Light that I need/for He is the saving grace of the galaxies!" So good...

Each song is totally different from the one before - there's a new beat and feel to each song. I can listen to the CD every day without getting tired of it, because of the lack of repetition. I've gotten to the point where I almost don't want to listen to anything else! :D

In short, All Things Bright and Beautiful lives up to its title very well. Owl City takes the listener on a wild, imaginative ride through creation through the music and word-pictures in the lyrics. Whether you're a brand new fan of Owl City like me, or have been a follower since the beginning, I would highly recommend All Things Bright and Beautiful!